The Pirate and the Merman
by vicwithacam
Summary: Story I wrote in 2012. I took it down some time ago but there were some lovely people that requested I bring it back. Sherlock was once a feared pirate captain until Moriarty wounded him and left him to die in the ocean. Sherlock is saved by a young man and they must learn to work together to bring Sherlock back to power and John his honor. (set present day. Rating likely to go up)
1. Chapter 1

Sherlock sat down silently at his desk, fingers gently strumming against the brown wood as he stared at the wall in deep thought. Being a captain of a pirate ship was stressful indeed but it had its rewards such as the three ships he now had under his control. His crew was large, at least 120 men that were as blood thirsty as they were stupid. But what came with the reward was also worry, his first mate had been acting off and he was beginning to wonder what he could possibly be up to. Surely whatever the man was up to wasn't good yet Sherlock hoped he wouldn't do anything that would lead him to punish him by death.

Moriarty and he had been friends since before they had decided to become a band of pirates. Sherlock let out a sigh before looking out the window at the pouring rain. Outside of his quarters was disaster, a storm had come in nearly a week before and had yet to subside and all the crew seemed to be anxious about something though Sherlock still didn't know what about. Surely they weren't going to drown in the dark depths below their own ship.

He had watched it happened a time or two before. Some had been his own ships but others belonged to other pirates. The waves would be bigger than expected, some would come in directions that the crew couldn't guess. The ships would break apart as if they were as fragile as tissue paper. It was something both horrifying and absolutely outstanding. It always did remind Sherlock that one should never think they have conquered something as unpredictable and wild as the ocean itself.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the door to his quarters open. It wasn't common for someone to come into his room without being summoned. The only person who was allowed to do that with little or no punishment was Moriarty himself. After all they were his first mate and someone that the pirate captain trusted more than anyone. Though Sherlock did have to admit there were times that he wasn't sure where the first mate's allegiances lied.

He looked up to identify who the intruder was though at first it was a bit hard to make out. The lightening appeared in the sky, illuminating the person standing in the doorway and the rain from outside sounded louder than before. Some of the water drenched the carpet closest to the door that had been opened. Moriarty stood in the doorway silently, his hands in his pocket as he looked a little anxious over something. His hair clung to his face, soaked with sweat and salty sea water, bags were under his eyes from sleepless nights. It wasn't completely uncommon but at the same time there was something in his eyes, something wild. Sherlock assumed that there was something extremely wrong: something happened to the ship or the crew.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Sherlock stood up from his desk and walked closer to the other man, the only man he had trusted with his life. The man who had saved him from death several times and he the same, Moriarty didn't look up yet, they kept their eyes trained to the nice red carpet they both were standing was something that Sherlock had noticed Moriarty did at times. It was something Sherlock normally brushed off as a nervous habit. This had worried him further. Sherlock licked his lips nervously and tried to close the last couple steps between them.

Sherlock was about to say something when a loud gun shot rang through the cabin and pain shot through his body. He swore that the sound was far louder than the waves and rain outside. For a moment everything went still- as if the ocean had stopped to witness what was currently taking place above it's equally dangerous depths.

Sherlock's ocean blue eyes slowly looked down at the bullet wound against his side- it was something that could easily kill him if he didn't get first aid quickly enough. blood poured out of he wound and all over his clothing. All he could do was stare as he continued to pale before looking up in shock at whom he believed to be his best friend. Instead of the loving look on Moriarty's face that Sherlock was used to seeing there was an insane smile plastered on his face, a side of him Sherlock had never seen before.

"I owe you, for letting my Sebastian die." Sherlock began to fall but Moriarty caught him in his arms and giggled "no no no, not going to be making a mess of the carpet-I'll be captain and I don't exactly want to see any blood stains on _my _carpet, you see?"

Sherlock's mouth opened and closed slightly as if he was trying to talk but nothing would come out.

"Nothing to say then? No last words?" Moriarty said sounding a bit bored "Your so dull." He picked up the wounded captain up in his arms, using his foot to swing the door open loudly where the crew was waiting. They saw their wounded, pale captain in Moriarty's arms and to Sherlock's surprised they all cheered happily in Moriarty's triumph. Moriarty smiled proudly before leaning down to whisper in Sherlock's ear "They love me because they think you're a fraud Sherlock, they think everything you did was my idea, what ships to take, people to kill, everything was my doing to them. They want me-not you." Sherlock groaned slightly in pain and tried to get away but he was far too weak to do so. Blood was seeping into his shirt that was sticking to his small frame from both rain and blood.

"Now what am I to do with this man?" Moriarty asked loudly to the crew, they began to chant 'Throw him overboard.' Over and over again together excitedly as the man holding the hurt pirate captain began to progress towards the side of the ship. He looked down at the dying man a second and giggled "Good bye Sherlock-I'll see you in hell." With that he threw the man into the hungry sea to die.


	2. Chapter 2

It felt like an eternity that he drifted in the violent waves of the ocean he loved so much. Sherlock was surprised over the fact his ship was long gone and yet no shark nor ocean predator had been attracted by the blood seeping into the water around him. His body was getting low on blood, but he was keeping himself from dying. He wouldn't accept death now, not like this. He would not die a pathetic pirate without a crew, he wanted to be remembered and this was not the way to do it. But it only took a short time for him to realize he most likely wouldn't have a choice; he was 100s of miles away from a shore and no boat came out here except the occasional pirate ships and even if a pirate ship came there would be no hope for them considering the wars just among pirates were great and he was one of the most hated pirates in the area because to his sarcastic comments to the stupid crews that he used to encounter.

Sherlock would drown or be eaten, which ever came sooner. He knew this but for some reason he kept fighting to live, even when he knew he had nothing to live for anymore now that his crew had betrayed him for a man he once claimed was his most trusting friend.

A wave came up and pulled him under, throwing the wounded man around like a simple lifeless rag doll within its violent current before calming momentarily around him. Everything seemed to stand still, as it went calm for a single moment. Sherlock wondered if this was the end, was the ocean being kind just to let him die in peace. He closed his eyes a moment accepting his fate before he felt something brush against his leg. He opened his eyes and looked down but it was simply too dark to see a foot or more below him.

He opened his mouth slightly, a small bubble of air escaped the cavern of his mouth as he did so and travelled to the surface as his gazed pierced the dark water surrounding him before he saw a human head appear out of the darkness looking up at him curiously before disappearing into the deeper part of the water where the impenetrable darkness lay.

It was only seconds later that Sherlock realized his lungs were burning, telling him it needed air in moments or he would drown. He tried to swim for the top of the water, not realizing just how far the wave had forced him down in the current- he wouldn't make it at this rate. He would die after seeing some man under the water watching him. Maybe it had possibly been a ghost that, just like him had drowned in the unforgiving yet beautiful water that surrounded them. His arms began to tire and his mouth opened about to force salt water into his lungs when he felt a warm hand on his side moving him upwards quickly to the surface.

Sherlock's head came out of the water; his hair matted to his head as he panted for air tiredly before feeling pain; whatever had helped him up to the surface was pushing on the bullet wound. He let out a pained sound and grimaced trying his best to cope with the pain and fear before he heard the thing break the water surface behind him. He didn't move; too scared to look behind him just yet, surely it wasn't a shark because they couldn't breathe out of the water, the hands on his side indicated a person as did his memory of seeing a man's head below him but he had believed that to be a delusion of a dying man. Finally he looked around and saw another man staring into his eyes silently; the eyes were filled with curiosity but also worry for the other man, his hand reached for Sherlock's quickly and he began to swim in an opposite direction quickly; far faster than Sherlock ever believed possible but somehow they were going far faster than any human being could ever possibly hope to accomplish.

They swam about a mile before Sherlock became lightheaded and began to sink underneath the unforgiving waves but the other man moved his grip from the wrist to the shoulder and shifted him so he could rest on his back as they swam. Sherlock's legs rested against something he could not identify right away, not that it mattered much at the moment considering he was more worried about dying then whatever was underneath him. He knew the person he was laying on was human…or so he believed. He closed his eyes, his face resting on his mysterious rescuers shoulder tiredly before a voice broke the silence. "Don't go to sleep-I'm a doctor. If you sleep now you probably won't wake up again."

Sherlock forced his eyes open to stare at the man he was laying against silently, what in the world was a doctor doing in the middle of the ocean anyways? How was he not panicking about finding shore? He needed to stop thinking such questions and worry about his own health though he assumed and right now that was focusing on not falling asleep or losing consciousness. He stayed awake by talking a bit about himself to the other man about his life assuming that he would die anyways so it wouldn't hurt to tell him everything.

When Sherlock was 5 he wanted nothing more than to be a pirate of his own ship, have a small crew of pirates and travel the world taking whatever they wanted. Mycroft had played along considering their mother and father were far too busy to pay attention to the two, he would read him stories, play with him, and dress up with him. But one day when Mycroft was 20 he moved away from home, leaving Sherlock alone while he became the British government.

Sherlock had grown up without anyone but his only friend Moriarty who had gone to school with him since they were 7 years old. They both had the same dreams of being pirates and Sherlock promised him that he would be his first mate if they ever did become pirates together regardless of the fact that Moriarty wanted to be the captain as well in all their make believe games they did together. As both grew they never let the dream die like most children did; Sherlock went to college for a couple years before dropping out and buying a ship of his own and gathering up a few men willing to become pirates with him. Moriarty soon found out and asked to join as well in which Sherlock agreed and kept his promise, making him his first mate.

A year went by and they had 50 men, which was when Moriarty met Sebastian. He was a kind young man, kind and gentle but that also spelled out weak to the pirate captain yet after Moriarty begged to let him join Sherlock finally caved and agreed. He only lived for a year before one of the raids went wrong; they had to retreat while they still could and Sebastian had been on enemies ship when Sherlock's own moved away-Moriarty had begged him to turn the ship around and retrieve the other man but Sherlock told him no; he couldn't risk the lives of all his crew for one that wasn't even much help anyways. As he had explained that a gunshot had been shot on the enemy ship and they had both looked to see Sebastian falling off the edge of the enemy ship with half his head gone from the shot wound. He had fallen and to Moriarty it was all Sherlock's fault. He had screamed and cried at Sherlock, telling him that he and Sebastian had dated while on the ship together and he had destroyed everything that made him happy, that he hated him.

Of course the hate didn't seem to last- they began talking again constantly and for a year and a half everything was ok before that night when Moriarty shot him. Sherlock looked at the man swimming quietly letting a shuttered breath escape his lips before resting his head once again on the wet skin of the man underneath him. He was so tired he wasn't sure how much longer he could fight sleep- but before he closed his eyes his feet seemed to hit something that he had nearly forgotten about. It had been years since he felt such a thing beneath his feet. He felt land.


	3. Chapter 3

The waves threw them against the shore, carrying the two further up the beach together but the doctor didn't move them away from the cool water that lapped against them. He moved himself slightly, gently sliding Sherlock off his back and onto the cold sand beneath them. His webbed fingers quickly tore at the shirt trying his best not to hurt him anymore then he already was as he tried to open the shirt enough to see the wound.

The wound was still bleeding and clotting a bit now and John immediately tore a strip of the shirt off. "This is going to hurt." He warned and pressed it down trying to completely stop the bleeding "I have to extract the bullet in a second so don't look." Sherlock grimaced a bit in pain but nodded at him to continue with what he was doing. He knew if they didn't get the bullet out it would most likely get infected and he wouldn't last long with that either. Sherlock felt the cloth move from his side near his stomach which told him right away he needed to look away as the mysterious man beside him took the bullet out. But then a question came to mind; how was he going to take the bullet out without any tools on him?

Just as that thought entered his mind he felt a warm sensation on his stomach, it tingled slightly before sheering pain went through his body. It only lasted a second before the pain died out completely and he hesitantly looked up to see what happened. John was holding his palm flat; a bloody bullet lay delicately in the middle of it. "Good job." The man said with a small smile.

Sherlock stared dumbfounded at the bullet before trying to sit up. He looked down at his side where the bullet had once been to find there wasn't even a scar to show where it had been. His mouth gaped open before he looked at the other man lying in the water.

"How did you-?" Sherlock began.

"I told you that I'm a doctor." He explained, his eyes looked into Sherlock's for a few minutes before looking down shyly. Sherlock saw the most pure innocents within them he had ever seen, no human could ever possess such purity or innocents within them and Sherlock felt drawn to those beautiful eyes. Sherlock's own eyes looked over the entire front half of his body that was sticking out of the water. He was pale and skinny, but the freezing cold water didn't seem to affect him like it would have for a normal human. He looked at the hand holding the bullet and realized it was shaking a bit now as the other man wasn't paying attention; he had some psychological damage at one point but when and why? He guessed it was none of his business but- he was drawn to him; he wanted to know what happened to him and protect him for some odd reason. He shook the feeling away.

He slowly laid back down in the sand realizing sitting right now was taking far more energy than he had at the moment. He needed to rest a while longer before thinking about doing anything more. "So who are you then?" Sherlock asked curiously. The other man paused a second before scooting a bit out of the water so he could be closer to the other man. Sherlock listened silently as the doctor scooted himself closer; it sounded like he was dragging something heavy behind him but Sherlock didn't dare look yet to see what it was. He wanted the first question answered before possibly putting himself into a bad situation.

"John Watson." The other man stated a bit and rested beside him silently, something near them splashed at the water a bit as they laid there and this time Sherlock looked. What he saw surprised him greatly. The lower half of the man who saved him was a fish- the tail was white, almost like a pearl color and it was absolutely stunning as the sun hit it. It showed an accurate color that to Sherlock represented just how pure and innocent John looked to him. But that didn't matter right now; he was far too busy being shocked by what he was staring at. Never in his life did he believe in mermen; even as a child he believed it to be impossible for something like that to exist. But here one was, a slap in the face in Sherlock's mind, it also made him feel a tad bit of disgrace over the fact that he had never logically come to the conclusion that they existed before this encounter.

John stared at them, his mouth open a bit himself as if he hadn't expected the human to look down to see what he really was. "I should-go then." John stated quickly and began to scoot away towards the water again before Sherlock grabbed his wrist tightly to keep him there with him. John struggled a moment before realizing that he couldn't get away and even if he did where would he go? He had broken many laws just helping save the human and healing him, not to mention let him see what he really was. If anyone were to find out; which he knew would happen he would be killed or thrown out of the kingdom he belonged to. He stared at the human though; worried what he would do now that he had his wrist. Would he keep him there with him just until he was well enough to stand and leave, when he felt alright would he force him to come with him? Would he do experiments on him like so many of the merfolks told their children would happen if they revealed themselves to humans? Or would he publicly show him off and would most likely start humans hunting his kind for sport?

The last option scared him the most, his people had weapons but not compared to the humans that he had seen on the docks or on ships he had encountered while swimming about the ocean by himself. They wouldn't stand a chance and it would be his fault that they were being killed; he wouldn't be able to live with himself if that happened. He took deep breaths trying to calm him down; telling himself that wouldn't happen. That the man would most likely fall asleep and then he could escape before anyone else learned about him or his species. He just had to wait for the opportune time and once that time came he couldn't hesitate.

He stayed with Sherlock for the hours that followed; seeing if he would fall asleep but sleep didn't seem to come for him making the chance of escape seem less and less likely to the merman staring at the human with wide brown eyes. He opened his mouth about to say something when Sherlock moved his head to look at John once again- their eyes met and they locked for several minutes until John grew uncomfortable and looked away once again. "You can't…you can't keep me here." John stuttered a bit before looking up into Sherlock's eyes once again.

"Can't I?" Sherlock said with a small smirk on his face but it didn't seem that dangerous to John, for some reason even with the thoughts of danger were slowly leaving when he stared at him. His eyes were calm even after everything he had gone through and the human even seemed to have some innocents within them even if he had seen so much violence and so much heartbreak. He wanted to mean something to someone and John could see it in his eyes. No wonder he wanted to become a pirate- the crew was the closest to a family as some could get and Sherlock felt needed when the captain. How could he not? He was needed when a leader for something that dangerous.

"If you had a heart you would let me go…" John argued a moment.

"People have told me I don't have one." Sherlock stated back almost immediately catching John a bit off guard.

"I doubt that-I can see you do."

"Can you?"

John nodded a bit and pressed a webbed hand to Sherlock's chest gently, feeling the warmth underneath his shaky fingers and a soft thumping underneath the surface. Such a wonderful beating heart was heard; it was music to the merman's ears and he smiled slightly. "There it is. It's a lovely heart too but what does it tell you to do?"

Sherlock paused, not used to being touched like that, he had never let his crew get near him let alone touch him. If they had attempted it he would have put a bullet in their skulls but when it came to this man he was caught off guard. But he didn't mind it for some odd reason; actually he welcomed such a thing.

"It tells me-"He began, thinking the question over "It tells me to take you with me."

John stared at him dumbfounded that was not the answer he was hoping for; he wanted to go back to the ocean. Maybe find a new place to live, a new kingdom to live within instead of the kingdom he had lived in his whole short life within. His wide eyes stared at the pirate captain as he removed his wet coat and put it over john before picking him up bridal style causing him to shudder and shake in slight fear as they got further from the ocean he lived in and into the unknown that his kind had never dreamed of touching. His arms wrapped around Sherlock's neck, fearful of him dropping him.

"W-where are we going?" John asked truly frightened as he was carried. Sherlock hummed softly as John continued to shiver.

"It seems we are somewhere in Europe so for now we need to find a safe place I can stay without getting arrested. There should be a hotel that will be willing to take me in near the cost. Some of them in the past have let pirates stay within them you just have to be careful which one you attempt to get in." Sherlock explained. He felt the tail in his arm move a bit as John tried to squirm out of his arms but he couldn't get away.

"What if they see me?" John asked hoarsely and Sherlock chuckled.

"There are plenty of strange people in this world John, we will lie and say it is a costume and they will most likely believe it. Now relax and stop asking so many questions it's annoying." Sherlock replied back immediately, he didn't like answering questions that seemed so very obvious to him. John sighed and hid his face in Sherlock's neck silently. He was beginning to regret saving this man, he couldn't believe he had been stupid enough to stay the close and chance getting captured. It was stupid, absolutely ridiculous that he hadn't seen getting caught coming.

This was going to be a rather long day. 


	4. Chapter 4

Sherlock left the shore quickly, heading onto the sidewalk with the young merman in his arms whimpering softly in Sherlock's neck. Sherlock ignored that for now, instead he was making mental notes about how he felt- any visual differences between him and a normal human being. One was John's eyes changed color depending on mood-When he had seen John's eyes on the beach his eyes were a beautiful brown but since he had picked John up his eyes had changed to an almost gray color.

He had gills on his neck but he didn't need to use them that was why he was still very much alive outside the water. He wondered how he could switch from using the gills to breathing air normally; there had to be some easy explanation. Sherlock's eyes slowly progressed down John's shivering body; his skin was scarred in some areas; he was in fights-maybe a war and he claimed he was a doctor. If he was in a war he was possibly a medic for their army who had gotten injured. His eyes went to Watson's hands, webbed; made it easier and much faster swimming compared to humans. His nails were also a bit longer than normal for people. They were used as either a scare tactic or a way to attack when threatened; probably both.

He was forced out of his mind palace when he heard John yelp in fear as a car drove passed them; his fingers dug into Sherlock's shoulders slightly causing slight pain to pulse through his body as he continued to walk. "That is a car John, they won't hurt you." Sherlock said, sounding a bit annoyed. He was getting a bit annoyed at the thought of having to explain everything to the merman. He didn't want to feel like he was educating a 5 year old- but he guessed it was necessary of John would suffer panic attacks every time something new came towards him. John didn't say a word; he was just trying to hide his face again. He was too scared to do much at the moment; they were now to far from the ocean for John to crawl back so he lost hope about getting away.

He slowly moved his face away from Sherlock's neck to look around when he heard a small bell ringing and the temperature change around them. They were in some building; his eyes scanned every inch of the lobby curiously, he had never been in a place like this before and it was absolutely astonishing. Sherlock smiled a bit at the young woman at the front desk.

"Hello, we would like a room for two please." He stated, the woman looked from Sherlock to John before her eyes noticed the tail and looked at Sherlock "He has a strange fantasy, I could talk all day about it but we are dying to see the room." He said without skipping a beat and the woman nodded. She handed him a keycard that Sherlock took happily before looking at John who was looking at him now a bit unhappy by the explanation. There was a blush on his face from embarrassment, he didn't want the first human woman he met to think of him as strange but Sherlock had managed to do it within just a second of meeting the young woman. Sherlock chuckled a second before the woman cleared her throat.

"There's two rooms 221 A and 221 B you have B; there's another couple in A so be sure to be quite please." She stated and Sherlock nodded a bit, thanking her before heading to the elevator. As they went in the elevator John began feeling light headed and rested his head on Sherlock's shoulder trying to get the small room from spinning around him before he let out a soft pained whimper, he was about to scream but his mouth was filled with a cloth that muffled his screams of pain.

Sherlock had put his scarf in John's mouth not wanting someone to hear them and begin to investigate. The pirate juggled John's body a bit so he could use the key before laying the merman on the bed, looking him over to see what the matter was. Immediately he saw the problem; his tail had already dried out and where it was cracked there was some blood coming out. Sherlock went to the bathroom and turned the tub on quickly not wanting the man who saved him to die. As soon as it was filled he turned the faucet off and listened closely; there was silence- that wasn't a good sign. "John…?" No answer.

Sherlock slowly left the bathroom, a bit unsure he wanted to leave the room and most likely see John Watson dead on the bed. What he saw surprised him greatly; John Watson was lying on the bed, unconscious but still very much alive. His tail was gone replaced with normal legs; he was naked and still shivering a bit in his sleep. Sherlock paused a moment, unsure what to do but after a minute he progressed towards the bed and put the covers on top of Watson letting him sleep while Sherlock went shopping for a couple things.

John woke up after a few hours; his body was covered in something heavy yet soft and comfortable. His fingers went to the blanket but before he investigated the thing on top of him he caught sight of his hand. It was no longer webbed, his nails were short like a human's-they looked so different to him. His hand slowly went to his neck and he felt where his gills once were but there was nothing but soft pink skin under his shaky hands. He inhaled slowly trying to calm himself before his hand went underneath the clovers and he felt skin where he was used to feeling scales. He curiously tried to move his new legs and slowly his left moved making the blanket move on top of him a bit. He kicked the blanket off and looked at his new toes, making them move a bit before he giggled excitedly.

But he immediately stopped giggling when Sherlock opened the door, holding quite a few bags. His eyes didn't even go to John's frame that was no longer hidden underneath the protective blankets as he dug around the bags. His hands came out with a striped shirt and jeans, he gently threw them at John who caught them clumsily and looked at Sherlock curiously, unsure what he wanted him to do with the strange clothes humans normally wore before Sherlock threw a set of boxers around him. "Go on then-"Sherlock began "Get dressed."

John looked down at the clothes again before slowly unfolding them to stare at them curiously and attempting the shirt first. It took a few times before he finally got it on and looked triumphantly before working on the boxers. Once those were on he put his jeans on backwards and looked a little confused as to why Sherlock looked so amused before he stood beside him and explained that they were on the wrong way before helping him put them on correctly. For some reason John felt a little more comfortable with Sherlock now that he was a human and he didn't have to worry about Sherlock telling everyone what he was when he had no proof.

"Now walk over to the table." Sherlock stated, John looked from where he was sitting to the table on the other end of the room, he wasn't sure how well he could actually balance on his new legs but he attempted it- it only took one step before he fell but was caught in the arms of the pirate who helped him up. "Try again."

John looked a bit scared to try it again but finally did it anyways; this time he made it quite a few steps but he was almost painful to him to walk on his legs. His lower half wasn't used to weight on them so he found himself wincing every step of the way. Sherlock watched with his piercing sea blue eyes before getting up and grabbing a cane and handing it to the other man "Try it with this." Sherlock stated, John took the cane curiously before slowly leaning against the object as he walked- it relieved almost all the pain as he walked and he soon found himself at the table. Sherlock walked over to him and smirked "Good job, I knew you had it in you."

John couldn't help but smile at the praise, his cheeks burning from the blush that was clearly on his face as Sherlock looked down at him lovingly. Maybe…this wasn't so bad after all.


	5. Chapter 5

The rest of the day the two stayed in the room; Sherlock sat down on the bed as he watched Watson try to build up the strength in his legs. He would go from one end of the room to the other slowly but after a few hours his speed increased little by little with the help of the cane Sherlock had bought him. Watson got tired after a while of using the legs he had recently acquired and sat down on the bed beside Sherlock who was staring silently ahead of himself; he was in his mind palace, trying to remember everything he learned about what he once believed to be a mythical creature. He blinked once, going back to reality to look at John. "People who capture your kind get one wish don't they?" Sherlock asked curiously.

"Uhm..." John looked up a second; it wasn't a topic he was used to talking about to anyone let alone a human being "Yeah, that's right. But as soon as you make the wish you let us go-why did you have something in mind?" His eyes had turned into a light blue color, he had mixed feelings about the idea of being let go. There was it's good and bad he assumed; the good was he would be able to go back to the underwater world he knew his whole life but at the same time he had no idea where he would go after- he couldn't go back to his kingdom because they most likely knew that he had saved a human. He also found Sherlock wasn't as bad as he thought he would be to him. He had given him clothing, an easy way to walk, and wasn't forcing him to do anything-yet.

"Nothing at the moment, your company is all I require right now. I don't need a wish to get that I assume, just a glance at you I can tell if I let you go now you would have nowhere to go." Sherlock stated sounding rather bored as John stared at him silently before looking down at the carpeted floor beneath his feet; his toes curled slightly into the soft carpet nervously.

"Your right, I don't have anywhere to go-if I went back home they would consider me a traitor. I broke more than one law saving your life." John stated before looking at him again, his eyes this time was once again brown as they looked into Sherlock's ever blue eyes that was searching for answers. They stared at each other a few more moments before John became uncomfortable under the gaze, his fingers fidgeted with the fabric of the blanket he was sitting on before looking down. "Can we get something to eat?" He asked quietly, he wasn't sure what humans ate and was curious about it. He felt the mattress lift slightly as Sherlock got off and turned to look at him, offering a hand to him to help him get to his feet. John stared at the hand unsure what he was supposed to do before his gaze slowly looked back at Sherlock as if asking what the hand was for causing Sherlock to sigh a bit.

"You grab it; it's supposed to help you up to your feet."

"Oh." John said and grabbed the hand gently, caught off guard and Sherlock's arm immediately pulled him upright beside him causing him to nearly lose balance and fall. In an attempt not to fall John grabbed Sherlock's arm tightly and clung until he was sure he was stable on his legs before letting go to grab the cane with his shaky hand. Sherlock's hand slowly went into John's own free hand causing John to look up at him before giving it a small squeeze and walking out the door slowly with him.

"What did you eat in the ocean?" Sherlock asked as they got in the elevator. John stood beside him and thought that over for a while.

"Fish, seaweed, oysters, lobster, a lot of things actually-why? Is there more than that?" He asked curiously and Sherlock laughed a bit causing John to look down a bit embarrassed once again before Sherlock slapped his back gently once making John jump a bit before relaxing. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, I find it amusing that you didn't know there was more variety on land." Sherlock began as he watched the floor levels as the elevator went down "There's all sorts of things; you will be surprised. I think we'll have Chinese tonight." As soon as he stated that the bell dinged indicating that they were on the floor they had pressed before the door slowly opened into the lobby. Sherlock walked to the doors with John, letting him look around at everything as they walked outside now that he was calmer and could ask more questions about everything.

He fell back into Sherlock's arms as a bike rider rode passed him quickly, startling him out of his wits. He had never seen such things before and while everything was new and fascinating to him he didn't really enjoy their means of transportation trying to kill him as he explored the world on land. He blushed a little as Sherlock held onto him a moment to keep him calm before letting him go once again and resumed holding his hand as they walked to the Chinese restaurant in the small town they were staying in.

The building was dimly lit and smelled of so many strange aromas that made John's mouth water almost immediately. The decorations on the wall were all strange to him as well, his fingers felt the costume dragon head that was hanging from the wall before moving the hand away quickly fearful it would come to life and hurt him but after nothing happened he relaxed and touched it again taking in every feeling he could get from it. From the synthetic fibers of the red fur to the plastic of the teeth and eyes, it all felt so strange but it was all so amazing at the same time. "John!" the familiar voice of Sherlock pierced through the thoughts he was going through, bringing him back into the real world. He looked at Sherlock curiously before noticing a waitress looking at him with menus in her hand "Come along, she's seeing us to a table." John nodded and walked over to them and sat down at the table she took them to. He grabbed a menu curiously and scanned through the menu, pointing at rice with curry.

"Can I try that?" John asked shyly, afraid Sherlock would tell him no and order something else for him but Sherlock simply nodded and ordered it for john and himself before leaning back in his chair, staring at John Watson silently causing John to once again become a bit uncomfortable under the gaze and fidget with a napkin. "What?"

"I was just trying to figure out why you saved my life last night is all." Sherlock stated.

"And?"

"I don't understand why, but I haven't gotten a single idea as to why you did it? Maybe I reminded you of someone you once knew and you didn't want to see that person die a second time-?"

"No, nothing like that." John began, he looked like he didn't want to talk about it here but within just a moment he decided he might as well "I was just trying to get away from everything, I'm sick of fighting and I just needed a break from everyone but when I saw you bobbing in the water; bleeding, I couldn't bring myself to let someone die when I could possibly save them. That's why I did it. I wanted to save you because I didn't think you deserved to die like that."

"That's boring." Sherlock complained making John look a little annoyed before Sherlock smiled slightly "Sweet of you but, still boring."

John was about to say something when the food was set in front of him causing his eyes to widen in awe. He tried to eat with his hands but immediately pulled it back in surprise over the fact the food was hot-he was always used to raw food, food like this was completely new to him. Sherlock stared at him curiously, clearing his throat to get john's attention before showing him a fork and ate a couple bites to get him an idea on how to eat food properly. John finally grabbed the fork and began eating the food; there were so many flavors he had never experienced and it surprised him so much all that he tasted. He only ate a few bites before he stopped eating, he never ate much in the wild; he would only eat what he could catch which was usually one fish or less a day. He never had been good as hunting though he was good when it came to hunting with the spears he made in the water. There just wasn't that many fish around the area after the humans greedily took them for themselves. But that caused John to not have a very bit appetite and he contently sat back in the seat and closed his eyes, the blood went toward his stomach making him grown tired. He wanted to go back home and sleep it off before eating more of the amazing food.

The waitress came back a half hour later and asked if they wanted the rest as take away in which Sherlock agreed and was given boxes to put the food in. John watched half lidded as Sherlock filled both boxes with food before grabbing out the money he had left in his pocket; they were crinkled a bit and a bit harder to bend since they had dried after being soaked in salt water for a few hours. The woman came back with the change before Sherlock stood up and saw John curled up on seat causing Sherlock to sigh and shook the tired man awake. "Get up; we're heading to the hotel John."

John nodded a bit and slowly got out of the chair, grabbing his free hand tiredly as he leaned against the cane and began walking back to the hotel with the human.


End file.
